Untidy Young Athlete Could Really Clean Up

EAST WINDSOR — In a way, it all started with Rose Marie Mercer's arthritic knee.

Alan Mercer Jr., a typical adolescent, tended to leave a trail of bats, balls and rackets in his wake. Rose Marie, a typical mom, tended to yell.

"I was always tripping over it," she said. "I have this arthritis, and I was afraid I'd hurt myself."

Heeding his mother's complaints -- and the assignment of his sixthgrade teacher, who encouraged students to enter the Connecticut Invention Convention -- Alan created a 3by-3foot rack with notches for bats, holes to cradle various-size balls and hooks for mitts, jackets and baseball spikes.

His sports equipment organizer went on to win an award in the statewide competition.

But that was 1989, and that was just the beginning.

Rose Marie Mercer was proud of her son. She also was determined to protect his idea from being stolen.

She knew that unless a patent application was filed within a year, the equipment rack could be built and sold by anyone.

It also became her major hobby for the past three years, consuming hundreds of hours work and several thousand dollars. She learned that a patent application -- which must be drafted in meticulously precise language -- is not something a layman should try to write.

Eventually, her persistence bore fruit. On Feb. 4, Patent No. 5,085,327 was issued to Alan S. Mercer Jr. and his father, Alan Sr., who had helped his 11-year-old son use power tools to build the prototype.

Alan Jr., now 15 and preparing for his sophomore year at Suffield Academy, shakes his head at the paperwork his mother waded through, while he was playing basketball, soccer or baseball.

"I could never have done it," he said. "I don't have the patience. I'd have thrown it all out the window."

CTC & Associates, a North Haven firm specializing in patents,

licensing and marketing of new products, is advising the Mercers on how to market the rack, which Rose Marie thinks could appeal to any family with sports-crazy children.

Ilga Blaich, who owns the firm with her husband, said the Mercers were wise to seek a patent. Otherwise, she said, "a manufacturer could come along and adapt it and literally walk away with [the invention]."

Charles Blaich, an engineer and patent agent, said the generic-claim patent on the rack allows it to be made of wood, metal or plastic, depending on whether it is designed for indoor or outdoor use. Similar products, such as racks for golf bags, have sold for as much as $300, he said.

The Blaiches suggested the Mercers request an analysis of the equipment rack's market potential from the University of Wisconsin. For $150, the analysis would provide estimates of who might buy the product and at what price.

Then the Mercers would have some information to use when approaching a manufacturer about leasing the rights to the patent, Charles Blaich said. Typically, such deals pay the inventor a royalty of about 5 percent, he said.

But to Rose Marie Mercer, getting Alan's invention to market is not the key goal. "The most important thing," she said, "was you did something good, now let's protect it and do it the right way.